WASH, used in aid and international development programs, refers to "Water, Sanitation and Hygiene," as means of improving public health. The term has been used in particular for a water, sanitation and hygiene advocacy campaign initiated by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. Access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene education are core components of effective public health programs, and reduce illness and death from disease. They also impact poverty reduction and socio-economic development.
Deficiencies in each area overlap strongly in their impact, and so to achieve a strong impact on public health, they are often addressed together.
Technologies in WASH programs
- Composting toilets are a very common WASH system aiming to give better health to communities than they have with open defecation and with less of the problems sometimes associated with a single pit latrine, which may leak exposing groundwater and drinking water to harmful microbes which cause illness.
See also
- WatSan ("Water and Sanitation," used in aid and development contexts.)